Glucagon-like peptide-1 exerts anti-inflammatory effects on mouse colon smooth muscle cells through the cyclic adenosine monophosphate/nuclear factor-κB pathway in vitro

The aim of this research is to explore the effect of GLP-1 analog exendin-4 on the expression and secretion of inflammatory markers from mouse colon smooth muscle cells (CSMCs) after stimulation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Materials and

Intestinal smooth muscle cells (SMCs) undergo substantial morphological, phenotypic, and contractile changes during inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). SMCs act as a source and target for different inflammatory mediators, however their role in IBD pathogenesis is usually overlooked. Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is an incretin hormone reported to exert multiple anti-inflammatory effects in different tissues including the gastrointestinal tract through various mechanisms.

These data indicate that GLP-1 analogs can exert significant anti-inflammatory effects on CSMCs and can potentially be used as an adjunct treatment for inflammatory bowel conditions.

Freshly isolated CSMCs from male BALB/c mice were cultured in DMEM and treated with vehicle, LPS (1 μg/mL), LPS+exendin-4 (50 nM), or LPS+exendin-4 (100 nM) for 24 h. Expression of inflammatory cytokines was then evaluated by antibody array membrane.

CSMCs showed basal expression of several cytokines which was enhanced with the induction of inflammation by LPS. However, exendin-4 (50 and 100 nM) significantly (p<0.05) reduced the expression of multiple cytokines including tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1α (IL-1α), T cell activation gene-3 (TCA-3), stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1), and macrophage colony stimulating factor (M-CSF). To confirm these results, expression of these cytokines was further assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and real-time polymerase chain reaction and similar results were also observed. Moreover, secretion of TNF-α and IL1-α into the conditioned media was significantly downregulated by exendin-4 when compared to LPS-treated cells. Furthermore, LPS increased NF-κB phosphorylation, while exendin-4 significantly reduced levels of NF-κB phosphorylation.